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By Walt Alexander
Today, I wanted to recap one message from Vision Quest on Diligence given by Mike Plewniak. For those who went to VQ, I hope this will serve to help you apply. For those who did not go, I trust you too will be challenged by this material.
Proverbs 6:6-11

Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

The description of the lazy man:1. He lacks initiative. He does not begin things. He waits for life to come to him.2. He does not finish. What do you have lying around the house? What have you left unfinished? How’s your Bible reading plan? How faithful are you?3. He does not like to do the hard things. He puts them off. Have you made that important phone call? Ouch! Have you began that immense homework assignment?4. He is slow. This is not because you are horizontally challenged or because you have eaten too many Big Macs. This means you are not a hard-worker.5. He does not like hard work. Do you find hard work extremely burdensome? Do you consider work as something you are freed to do or bound to do? Hard work should be a joy.6. He is a pain to those trusting him. Do live up to your word? Do you fail people often? Do you often not follow through?
7. He is too arrogant to be taught. How do you respond when you are corrected? Do you get angry? Do you ask further questions of the person correcting you? At church, do you take notes?8. He loves sleep. Need I say more.9. He craves and gets nothing. He gets nothing because he does not work.

Where do you see your face? Are you lazy? Are you a sloth?

To help us fight, Mike gave us seven lies of laziness.Seven lies of laziness:1. It promises happiness now. But it does not deliver. The lazy crave and get nothing.2. It promses ease. The lazy live for the current ease without thinking of the future.3. It tells us we need a break. Can’t you just hear it talking? “You’ve had a rough week. You need a break. Take a rest.”4. It lies in telling us the time is ours. This is a subtle temptation. This lie tells us that our lives are primarily about ourselves and our agendas.5. It lies in telling us now is not the time. Laziness always pushes things off and refuses present work.6. It lies in telling us there isn’t enough time. The lazy man always runs out of time, not because there isn’t enough time but because he has squandered it all away.7. It lies in telling us that it is just who we are. In this sense, it gives no hope for change. However, to be lazy is not to without hope. There is power to change.

Finally, if you are convicted, start fighting right now. Don’t make a plan of action to start next week (remember you are lazy and will not follow through!). As Owen reminds us, “Be killing sin, or it be killing you.”